January 2005 Newsletter

Hello everybody,

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

We are happy to report that the Toufen church presented a very successful Christmas Eve coffeehouse. We held a sing-along, performed skits, Barth played sax, and one of our elders gave his testimony. It was a fun time, although a bit chaotic. Seventy people were expected to attend (a good crowd for a Christian event in Toufen), but 120 showed up. We didn't know where to put them all! The Lord has been blessing the coffeehouse outreaches. We are praying for wisdom regarding future events. Holding a "concert" rather than a coffeehouse may be a better way to accommodate the numbers of people who are being drawn to attend.

Our youth group has also been blessed. A little over one year ago, it started with five young people. Some weeks only two were able to attend, so our living room served as a good location. The group has grown to about 30 regulars, mostly non-Christians. With tests and other commitments, around 20 people (including workers) attend the meeting on any given week. What this means is that we have wall-to-wall people in our living room. So, we are planning to move the meeting to the first floor of the church. We present a serious Christian message every week. The kids seem to be open. They continue to come and even bring their friends.

We have already shared in another newsletter how entrenched ghost and ancestor worship is among the Hakka people in Toufen. Here is a picture of a Hakka ghost ceremony held in connection with a funeral. What makes it especially interesting is that this ceremony took place in the field directly in front of our house, not more than 30 feet from our front door. Even more interesting is that one of the participants attends our youth group regularly (a non-Christian). This same young person told Barth that he doesn't really believe in these things, but that he feels a tremendous amount of pressure as the oldest son in his family to continue these practices. This should give you some idea of what our young people are up against.

Janine - "I have developed a friendship with two little neighborhood girls, YaLin who is about six years old and YiCe who is about eight. Cute kids! They like to visit our house, eat snacks, play games and, yes, I do talk to them about God. The subject of who God is came up naturally at Christmas time. I explained to them why we celebrate Christmas. They were fascinated by ‘Shangdi’, that's Mandarin for God, the true God who created the heavens and the earth. They frequently ask me to tell them about ‘Shangdi’ and ‘Yesu’ (Jesus). YaLin (the six year old) comes from a home of devout idol worshippers. Recently Barth and I visited the World famous Palace Museum in Taipei. We returned with a brochure, the front cover of which is a picture of an ancient gold statue. (See picture on right) As soon as YaLin spotted the brochure on our coffee table she started worshipping it (the brochure). Then she grabbed my hands, moving them up and down, so I would worship it too. Of course, I told her that my God, Shangdi, doesn't permit me to worship those things."

In addition to his regular church duties, Barth now leads a vocal ensemble comprised of students from the Ming Dao Bible School. Barth also had the opportunity to teach a seminar on praise and worship at the Oasis Church in Taipei last month. This church is a unique cosmopolitan church with services in English and Mandarin. Half of the congregation are English speakers from countries such as South Africa, England and Australia. The other half of the congregation are bilingual Taiwanese. Barth - "In the past year God has led me to do a lot of music ministry in other organizations. I am very happy conducting the vocal ensemble at Ming Dao. I arrange the music to fit their voices and the students are very eager to learn. They have already performed at four different churches around the Island. The worship seminar was also a fulfillment of my call to teach on worship here in Taiwan. Oasis was quite an experience, speaking to people from all over the world."

For the past three months, Janine has been teaching an adult English class as an outreach of our Toufen church. It is a form of light evangelism. Her students practice spoken English and reading in English. The readings are usually personal testimonies from "Guideposts" magazine. The class is attended primarily by non-Christians, including two teachers and the school nurse from a local elementary school.

On average, it takes approximately six years for someone in Taiwan to accept Jesus after they have heard the Gospel. So please pray that the good news we share will take root in the hearts of all those we minister to.

In closing, we would like to say we often think about you, our dear friends, and continue to pray that God will bless you. We are co-workers with you in Taiwan. Thank you for your continuing support both in prayer and financially.

With love,

Barth and Janine